but as election day approaches, the race has narrowed. >> the election is tightening, but what remains constant is the number of people who are undecided. >> suarez: diana negroponte is a senior fellow at the brookings institution in washington. she says, following the 2004 regional elections in venezuela, some who voted against chavez lost both jobs and government benefits. >> so although the new election machine makes it impossible to link your fingerprint to your vote-- there's a disconnect between the two-- memory of 2004 leaves people wondering, "will i lose... might i lose my benefits?" >> suarez: capriles has tried to counteract that fear with a strong shoe-leather campaign, travelling town to town across the state to introduce himself, and to circumvent chavez's media advantage. following his sebru hy primary victory, state media attemptedeb to play into fears among the largely catholic nation, insinuating capriles was a zionist agent, a fascist and a homosexual. carpriles is the grandson of polish jews who survived the holocaust, and describes himself as a devout catholic. wit